


The Druid Boy

by briefoptimisticspaceaffair



Series: The Druid boy [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Blink and you'll miss it Merlin/Arthur, M/M, One Shot, Powerful Merlin (Merlin), That one episode when Morderd is a kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24613219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/briefoptimisticspaceaffair/pseuds/briefoptimisticspaceaffair
Summary: There's a boy hiding from the guards. Merlin adopts him.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: The Druid boy [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1781908
Comments: 4
Kudos: 148





	The Druid Boy

Merlin had been in Camelot for half a year now and things weren’t that bad actually. He’d got used to life running after Giaus’ errands picking herbs which looked like weeds or delivering medicine. Washing pots, organising his many books, reading the secret books about magic. 

It was a lot. And Merlin had more than one job unfortunately. He was the Prince’s personal servant. Utter hell. And Merlin also had been assigned one other job by the freaking talking dragon in the caves deep under the capitol, to guard Prince Arthur's life. Because apparently the royal dollophead was going to be key to all magic and he was super significant. Merlin had thought he was the super important magical figure being, oh, you know Emrys the prophesied warlock. 

But no, according to the Dragon he and Arthur were ‘two sides of the same coin’. Merlin had really wanted to take this up with someone higher, Arthur was an idiot. And often tried to get himself killed, like all the time. But when Merlin had the chance to bring it up with the sorceress Nimeh, well. She sort of tried to poison Arthur and Merlin obviously couldn’t let her do that. Arthur was his idiot okay. And it ended with Merlin poisoning himself in Arthur’s place. Which honestly Merlin was fine with. He hadn’t really expected to last as long as he had at Camelot what with Magic being very much illegal. If you were so much as caught humming on a full moon outside in a field, well, the stake is for you. 

The King had a tendency to throw Merlin in the stocks so Merlin had really expected a death sentence any day. But Merlin hadn’t died. Arthur, the idiot, had got himself thrown in the dungeons for trying to get Merlin the cure. Merlin had got the cure. What Merlin is really trying to say here is that Arthur isn’t so bad. He’s sort of maybe nice. And Merlin maybe thought that Arthur wouldn’t kill him if he found out that Merlin had magic and was very magical, like Merlin is a super big deal in the Magical world, and yes he can’t believe it either. Anyway Merlin is sort of maybe getting along with the son of the sorcerer killing king so Merlin chose Arthur’s room to hide in. 

There had been a druid boy by the well. He had cried for help earlier that morning, Merlin had heard the boy scream in his mind. It disturbed him greatly. The boy had seen him looking and then the boy was pleading mindlessly in Merlin’s head. They were going to kill him. Merlin remembered once when he was ten he had gone against his mother’s wishes and gone to the next village over. There had been a witch hunter at that village. Merlin still had nightmares. 

Merlin told the boy to follow him. Merlin’s instinct was to hide the boy and the best place was Giaus' chambers. They were blocked off by guards so Merlin ran with the boy up the stairs, there were Morgana’s rooms and Arthur’s. Arthur’s were closer. Merlin took the boy inside, hid him in Arthur’s wardrobe and began to clean the room. There was a knock, Merlin opened the door to four guards. “Have you seen anything suspicious, any intruders who you don’t know or a boy in a blue cloak?” Merlin said no, he’d been cleaning in here and hadn’t heard anything from outside. The guards accepted this and left without searching the chambers. Merlin could see another group of guards insisting that they search Morgana’s chambers. Morgana was loudly protesting. Merlin rolled his eyes, of course they wouldn’t search the Prince's chambers. Which is so very lucky. Merlin was now able to take the serving door out of Arthur’s rooms with the boy, and then maybe they could get rid of his blue cloak..

“What do you think you're doing?” Arthur said and Merlin nearly died right there and then. But Arthur wasn't talking to him; he was talking to the guards searching in Morgana’s rooms. Merlin needed to go now.  
“Come on,” Merlin said to the boy, ushering him out of the wardrobe and through the serving door. The boy was breathing badly and Merlin noticed a cut on his arm. 

Giaus had been telling Merlin to channel his magic through spells because if he just did magic raw magic it was unpredictably powerful. Like the first day Merlin had met Giaus. Merlin didn’t know any spells for healing cuts so he just sort of went with it and willed the boy to be better. The boy stopped looking so pale, he blinked up at Merlin “you have a lot of magic” the boy said. Merlin smiled walking the boy quickly down the side corridor leading to Giaus’ chamber.  
“Well, I’m a lot older than you” the boy didn’t really take that excuse and gave Merlin a disbelieving look. “My name is Merlin, what’s yours?” Merlin asked, changing the subject. 

“Mordred” the druid boy said, blinking up at Merlin as Merlin led him into Giaus’ chambers. Merlin quickly took off the boy's cloak and discarded it in a corner, he ruffled the boy’s hair a bit 

“Okay Mordred, you look a little bit like me so, I’m going to say you are my cousin, okay?” Mordred nodded “and then we’re going to wait for things to calm down and I’ll take you home.” Merlin knew the woods where the druids lived. He had once gone there and thought about staying. But being Emrys was very different from being Merlin, and Merlin preferred being Merlin. 

“Can we take my father as well? He’s been arrested.” Merlin grimaced, the druid man was most likely going to be executed. But Merlin supposed he could break Mordred’s dad out of prison, there were some very interesting spells in the books Gaius had set him to read. And it also helped that being a druid, Mordred’s dad wouldn’t mind Merlin using magic to free him. 

“Merlin!” Giaus shouted as he came in through the door. Merlin flinched from where he stood squatting to reach Mordred's height. Mordred stared fearfully at Gaius. Gaius stared with his furrowed eyebrows at Mordred, then he quickly shut the door behind him and started to shout at Merlin. “Did you kidnap the druid boy everyone is looking for?” Gaius whisper-shouted, turning his eyebrows on Merlin.

“Wha-no I saved him” Merlin corrected patting Mordred on the arm, Mordred helpfully added  
“I’m his cousin” - which, great follow up Mordred was very good at following instructions. Gaius’ eyebrows glared fearsomely at Merlin, and yeah he deserved that. Merlin gave Gaius a weak smile. Gaius huffed and sat Mordred down at a workbench, he produced a bowl of stew and told Mordred to eat and then he hauled Merlin into a corner away from Mordred.  
“That boy’s father was just executed” Gaius hissed, Merlin’s heart dropped he’d been too slow another magic user was dead. Merlin blinked back angry tears, it was at times like this that Merlin really wanted to follow through with the sorceress who possessed the singer Lady Helen’s plan and kill Uther himself. But that wasn't Merlin’s place. It was Arthur’s. 

“Is my father dead?” Mordred’s small voice cut through the anger in Merlin’s head, he turned and looked at Mordred. He was hunched over Gaius’ table, he looked terrified. Merlin didn’t know what to do. Merlin sniffed and he realised he had let himself start to cry he quickly wiped at his face, but Mordred saw.  
“He is, isn’t he” Mordred said and started to cry into the stew. Merlin’s heart tore, he stumbled over to Morderd, a lump in his throat and hugged Mordred.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry” Mordred buried his head in Merlin’s chest sobs racking his small frame. “I don’t have any family,” Mordred quietly said and Merlin felt his heart break more.  
Merlin went about his duties and if Arthur asked him what was wrong and if Merlin had angrily told Arthur a good man had just been murdered, well. That was between Merlin and Arthur. 

“If you want,” Merlin said later that evening to Mordred “tomorrow I can take you to the druid’s woods? You will be safe there”. Mordred didn’t say anything, but at least he knew it was an option. Merlin fell asleep with Mordred tucked under his arm the both of them crammed on his tiny cot. In the early morning Merlin went out to gather Gaius’ herbs. He took Mordred’s cloak with him and abandoned it in the forest.


End file.
